Notre Dame's Kyle Hamilton vs. USC's Drake London is A Must-See Matchup
In terms of star power, it doesn’t get much bigger than Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton versus USC wide receiver Drake London.
London, a 6 foot 5 junior, has caught 64 passes for 832 yards with five touchdown receptions.
It’s not unreasonable to say that London is the bulk of the Trojans’ (3-3) pass offense. He has caught nearly 39% of their passes. Against Utah, London had 16 pass receptions.
London is projected as a consensus middle to late first-round NFL pick.
Hamilton, who was just selected by the Associated Press as a mid-season All-American, could go as high as the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, according to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.
Hamilton has three interceptions, four pass breakups, 2.5 tackles for losses and a handful of ESPN highlight plays to his credit. He is the most disruptive safety in college football.
It’s impossible to know if a real matchup will materialize for the two players because most teams try to avoid Hamilton. But the junior safety moves around quite a bit in coverage.
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said that London deserves his own special coverage.
“We’re just going to do what Stanford did,” Kelly said. “I don’t know - he had four catches against Stanford. This is a really good football player. You have to have a plan for him, just as we had one for (for former receiver Michael) Pittman and the other players they had. If you just line up and say, ‘Okay, we’ll live with what the consequences are, it’ll be like George Karlaftis at Purdue. We couldn’t line up and just say, ‘George, just rush the passer.’ We had to have a plan for him. We’ll have a plan for him as well.”
The Irish (5-1) and the Trojans are similar in at least three respects.
Both teams have struggled with their offensive line, both starting quarterbacks aren’t mobile and both have a backup quarterback that is vying for playing time.
USC quarterback Kedon Slovis, a 6-2 junior, has been sacked seven times and he has rushed for negative six yards. Slovis missed most of the Washington State game with an injury. The Trojans are averaging a respectable 129.8 yards rushing and 318-yards passing but they are giving up 149-yards per game rushing. Notre Dame quarterback Jack Coan has been sacked 22 times, and the Irish are averaging just 2.8 yards per rush.
Trojan fans were excited this year when quarterback Dart Jackson, a 6-3 freshman, completed 30-46 passes for 391-yards in a 45-14 victory over Washington State. Jackson tore the meniscus in his leg in the win and hasn’t played since.
USC interim coach Donte Williams floated the possibility last week that Jackson could be ready for the Notre Dame game.
Williams told the LA Times that last week that Jackson was “lot more full go.”
Jackson also told the Times that “I picture myself coming back sooner rather than later.”
Kelly has said that freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner will continue to get playing time if he’s healthy. Buchner hurt his hamstring for the second time this season against Virginia Tech. He finished the Tech game 6 of 14 passing for 114 yards with one TD pass and two interceptions. He also ran for a TD and he had 67-yards rushing.
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